ABSTRACT
In the twenty-first century, the digitalisation and the convergence of telecommunication, broadcasting and information technology are likely to set up a different regulatory environment for broadcasting and broadcast advertising in digitalised broadcasting markets. What constitutes 'undue' prominence of a product or service is a matter for debate, especially when, as British Broadcasting Corporation radio correspondent Torin Douglas has pointed out, sponsors are unsure what 'due' prominence might be. By merging the Broadcasting Standards Council and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission into one regulatory advisory body, the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the Broadcasting Act 1996 intends to reduced the complexity and the number of regulatory advisory bodies in regulating broadcasting channels in the forthcoming digital era. In the early 1990s the new area of sponsorship was one of the most complex problems for regulation posed by deregulation. The paradox only arises, however, if the deregulation is partial; complete deregulation, which gets rid of all rules, is self-consistent.
